Sequestration impact on Camp Lejeune unclear

By AMANDA WILCOX

Published: Monday, October 8, 2012 at 05:30 PM.

The impact on sequestration on the 180,000 people who depend on Camp Lejeune for income, housing, employment, health care, shopping and recreation is still unclear, but they could be facing dramatic changes if Congress doesn’t reach a resolution on sequestration.

“The impact of sequestration on North Carolina would be devastating,” said Chris Mackey, spokeswoman for N.C. Governor Bev Perdue. “We have the 3rd largest military presence in the country. Military installations and defense related industry have a $23.4 billion impact on the state’s economy. Early estimates we’ve all seen indicate over 11,000 defense sector jobs are at risk in our state.”

Sequestration, a provision of the 2011 Budget Control Act, would automatically trigger a $500 billion in across-the-board defense spending cuts over the next decade, in addition to $487 billion in cuts already planned. The threat of sequestration was meant to be used as a mechanism to force Congress to act on further deficit reduction — it was intended to drive both sides to compromise, according to a Sept. 14 report issued by the Office of Management and Budget on the sequestration.

The only way to prevent sequestration is for Congress to find equivalent savings by January, but with no plans or legislation on the floors making any progress and the deadline looming, sequestration could soon become a reality for the military bases in North Carolina.

Should sequestration take effect on Jan. 2, fiscal year 2013 would see $52 billion in cuts from the Department of Defense, and similar cuts would take effect each year until fiscal year 2012, Pentagon Comptroller Robert F. Hale said when addressing Congress last week.

President Barack Obama has made clear military personnel spending would be exempt from sequestration, Hale said, but that means each non-exempt account, like those of civilian employees and defense contractors, would take a 9.4-percent hit, leading to hiring freezes and unpaid furloughs — mandatory leave — for civilian personnel, according to the OMB report.

Camp Lejeune — which generates almost $3 billion in commerce each year from payrolls and contracts — employs nearly 2,600 non-appropriated fund employees and 77 civil service employees with Marine Corps Community Services. Those numbers don’t include the additional civilian government or defense contract employees whose jobs could also be in jeopardy if sequestration were to be enacted.

The impact on sequestration on the 180,000 people who depend on Camp Lejeune for income, housing, employment, health care, shopping and recreation is still unclear, but they could be facing dramatic changes if Congress doesn’t reach a resolution on sequestration.

“The impact of sequestration on North Carolina would be devastating,” said Chris Mackey, spokeswoman for N.C. Governor Bev Perdue. “We have the 3rd largest military presence in the country. Military installations and defense related industry have a $23.4 billion impact on the state’s economy. Early estimates we’ve all seen indicate over 11,000 defense sector jobs are at risk in our state.”

Sequestration, a provision of the 2011 Budget Control Act, would automatically trigger a $500 billion in across-the-board defense spending cuts over the next decade, in addition to $487 billion in cuts already planned. The threat of sequestration was meant to be used as a mechanism to force Congress to act on further deficit reduction — it was intended to drive both sides to compromise, according to a Sept. 14 report issued by the Office of Management and Budget on the sequestration.

The only way to prevent sequestration is for Congress to find equivalent savings by January, but with no plans or legislation on the floors making any progress and the deadline looming, sequestration could soon become a reality for the military bases in North Carolina.

Should sequestration take effect on Jan. 2, fiscal year 2013 would see $52 billion in cuts from the Department of Defense, and similar cuts would take effect each year until fiscal year 2012, Pentagon Comptroller Robert F. Hale said when addressing Congress last week.

President Barack Obama has made clear military personnel spending would be exempt from sequestration, Hale said, but that means each non-exempt account, like those of civilian employees and defense contractors, would take a 9.4-percent hit, leading to hiring freezes and unpaid furloughs — mandatory leave — for civilian personnel, according to the OMB report.

Camp Lejeune — which generates almost $3 billion in commerce each year from payrolls and contracts — employs nearly 2,600 non-appropriated fund employees and 77 civil service employees with Marine Corps Community Services. Those numbers don’t include the additional civilian government or defense contract employees whose jobs could also be in jeopardy if sequestration were to be enacted.

Lejeune officials declined to comment on the impact sequestration would have on their civilian workforce, saying that the entire provision is all still very “up in the air.”

“My understanding … is that while we might have to reduce our budget by a specific number, how would we get to that number on the local level hasn't been determined,” said Kim Oliver, marketing director for MCCS, in an email to The Daily News. “It's also important to remember that there are many types of 'civilian employees' on the base, all of whom wouldn't necessarily be affected the same.”

Sequestration would also adversely affect military retirees and families, Hale said, and cause cuts in family housing maintenance and base operating support.

“We’d try to protect families wherever we can,” Hale added, “but we would have to make some of these cuts.”

Cuts would also be required in the Defense Health Program, including Tricare.

North Carolina lawmakers with a seat in Congress have expressed their concern in recent weeks over the impact of sequestration, calling the effects it would have on the state “devastating.”

“We all agree that if allowed to proceed, sequestration would have serious, negative consequences for North Carolina,” N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan said in a written statement. “Additionally, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has said that sequestration would severely damage our national defense. I continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find a bipartisan, balanced approach that will reduce our debt and deficit without hurting the ability of our military to protect our country.”

The Office of Management and Budget plans to release more reports on the impact sequestration would have on national defense as the deadline draws nearer. The office stressed they are against sequestration in their report, but added that “unless Congress acts responsibly, there will be no choice but to implement (sequestration).”

The American Forces Press Service contributed to this report. Contact Daily News Military Reporter Amanda Wilcox at 910-219-8453 or amanda.wilcox@jdnews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AWilcox21.